Beneath the Burning Sands
by lillyankh
Summary: Jack and Ianto are about to have a little fun when an unexpected guest arrives. She launches them on a mysterious adventure that takes them halfway across the world and back. Gah I suck at summaries! JackIanto, JackOC implied, possible OwenGwen


Hello, and welcome to my first Torchwood fanfiction! This was originally going to stay in my head, but it kept attacking me and attacking me until I gave in. Anyway, please read it, I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer **

LILLY: We, the authors of this fanfiction, do not own Torchwood or any of its characters. If we did, this would happen in the show and we wouldn't have to use a fan site to put it up. We do, however, own this fanfic and the original characters within.

This story contains SLASH i.e. boy on boy. You don't like it, don't read it. Although, if you don't like slash, you probably wouldn't watch Torchwood…

-x-

It was about 11pm when Ianto entered Jack's office carrying a mug of coffee. A regular event, yes, but Jack had been lost in thought and the unexpected intrusion made him jump, scattering pens and paper everywhere.

"Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to startle you," the Welshman apologised, placing the coffee on the desk and bending to pick up the files.

"It's alright, Ianto," Jack began, nearly adding 'Leave those, I'll sort them out' before he realised that Ianto's current position gave Jack a nice view of his arse. Grinning wryly, Jack spent a moment contemplating what the consequences would be if he slapped it. Then Ianto stood, and the opportunity was lost. But dammit if Jack was going to let him get away that easily.

"You have something on your tie."

When Ianto looked down, Jack grabbed the tie and used it to pull Ianto into a kiss. A cheap move, yes, but Jack couldn't resist. Ianto pulled away and said, "Owen is still here, sir." If Jack didn't know better, he could have sworn Ianto was saying that as an incentive rather than a deterrent.

Still, he never found out, because that was when the girl appeared. 'Appeared' being the operative word: she materialised out of thin air on top of Jack's desk, spilling coffee and paperwork everywhere. She looked pretty harmless, just an ordinary girl with a rather bemused expression on her face, but Jack had been in the business long enough to know that things that seemed harmless were often quite the opposite. Particularly when they can magically appear in a high-security Hub. As Ianto began hastily tidying as if nothing had been happening between him and the Captain, Jack approached the girl, one hand on his gun at all times.

"Where did you come from and what are you doing here?" he asked, acting casual.

"I was walking in a field." She spoke with an English accent, not Welsh, but that was hardly anything unusual. "Now I'm here." She looked around. "In Torchwood, apparently."

Stunned, Jack drew his pistol. "How the hell did you know this is Torchwood?"

Raising an eyebrow at Jack's gun, the girl pointed at the computer screen on the wall. "Big revolving image saying 'Torchwood' was kind of a clue."

Jack smirked a little but didn't lower his gun. From under the desk, Ianto remarked, "I always thought that was a bit of a security lax, sir."

"Alright, but that still doesn't explain how you got here."

The girl shrugged and slid herself off of the desk. "Beats me. This happens to me a lot."

"What does?"

"I'll be out for a walk in town and then suddenly I'll be somewhere else, with a few hours lost in between. Is there a reason you have a gun in my face?"

Jack thought for a second, and then relaxed his aim. The girl seemed safe enough, if a little flippant, and besides, Ianto had finished cleaning and claimed a gun of his own in case anything should happen. "So you really have no idea how you got here?"

"Nope."

"Hmmm." Jack was pretty sure she was telling the truth, but was still slightly suspicious. Something had to be up; normal people couldn't just teleport through six inches of concrete and metal. "I'd like to run a few tests, ask some more questions. Just to make sure nothing untoward is going on."

The girl shrugged by way of an answer and Jack led her out of the office, followed quietly by an ever-alert Ianto. Jack was slightly surprised by the Welshman's demeanour, but also pleased by his professionalism and how he was watching his back.

Owen had been reviewing some cold cases during the events so was taken aback when Jack walked up with a slightly bored looking woman and asked to have some tests run. "Mind telling me what's going on?" asked the confused doctor. When Jack filled him in, he agreed to check for any unusual readings. Well, grudgingly agreed.

"Honestly, why you couldn't do it yourself I don't know."

"Just do it, Owen, it's not like it takes very long."

Still complaining, Owen took a skin and blood sample to analyse, as well as running a quick scan while the girl was sat on his examination table. While the tests were processing, Jack led the girl into what he couldn't help thinking of as the interrogation room. It was where Suzie had been kept only weeks before. He returned just as the results came through.

"Well?"

"100 human. May Ann Fanleigh. 21. Student at…Bath University? What the hell is she doing in Cardiff? Born October 22nd, yadda yadda, nothing alien or mysterious about her."

"Not even in the bioscans?"

"Nope, not a thing. Might just be something to do with the Rift, or just a random coincidence, like one of the alien technologies decided to bring her here or something. I'd say best thing would be just to Retcon her and send her home."

Jack agreed. "But I'd still like to know how she got here, maybe stop it from happening again. I might just go talk to her for a bit, see if she can tell us anything. Keep monitoring the room in case any changes happen."

Owen nodded and began typing on his computer. As Jack headed to where May was being kept, he could hear Ianto asking if she would like anything to drink. Clearly he had thought Owen's suggestion was a good idea.

Jack sat opposite May and gave her his best winning smile. His grin widened further to see a blush creep on May's cheeks as she politely smiled back. "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced. I'm Captain Jack Harkness, nice to meet you." He held out his hand across the table.

She took it. "Likewise. Although I didn't much take to being prodded and poked by that other guy."

Jack laughed at that. "Well, that's Owen for you." There was a pause. May fiddled absent-mindedly with her necklace. "So," Jack continued. "You're a bit far away from home, aren't you?"

"Well, like I said, I often end up in strange places." A beat. "Just how far away am I?"

"You're in Cardiff."

It was the most surprised Jack had seen May that evening. "Bloody hell! The furthest I'd ever gone before was Bradford-upon-Avon. There's no way I could have just walked here."

Jack didn't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Britain, but he guessed that it was a bit of a leap from Bradford-upon-Avon to Cardiff. "You never know, you might have driven. How exactly does this 'ending up in strange places' thing work? You're just suddenly somewhere else?"

"Not quite. I go for walks sometimes when I can't sleep. Usually nothing happens, but every now and again I wake up in weird places, having had plenty of rest yet with no recollection of how I got there. Come to think of it, actually, this is the first time I haven't _woken up_ in a new place – I was never asleep."

Jack began to phrase another question when Ianto came in with drinks. "A water for you, miss," he said, carefully placing the glass down on the table in front of May, "and a coffee for you, sir, since your last one was spilt."

"Thanks, Ianto," Jack said, flashing him a particularly seductive look above his coffee mug.

When Ianto had left, Jack noticed May was watching him with a rather amused expression. There was something else there too – approval? disappointment? – Jack couldn't tell.

"Doing the coffee boy? How original," May quipped.

Jack spluttered as he inhaled his coffee. "Jeez, you say what you think, don't you?"

May shrugged again. She only seemed to make a specific facial expression when she wanted to. Blushing was the only involuntary act she had done so far. Jack watched her in silence for a minute as she drank her Retcon-laced water.

"Where exactly do you remember being last before you arrived here?" Jack asked. If anything, they could check the CCTV and track her movements.

"Um, I had been walking across these fields that are near the Bath University student halls. I think I had just strayed into the area around the American Museum." She had drained the last of her water. "Can I go yet?"

"In a minute," Jack replied absently. He had noticed May kept playing with her necklace. It looked like an Egyptian Eye of Horace, but there was a strange jewel set in the pupil that he was trying to identify. It seemed to change colour constantly as he examined it.

Wait. Hang on. No. No way. It couldn't be that simple.

"That's an interesting necklace. Where did you get it?"

"Oh, this thing? My mum found it on a dig. She was an archaeologist." Jack noted the use of past tense. "It was somewhere in Egypt, I think, hence the design."

"If she was on an official dig, shouldn't she have handed it in for studying rather than taking it home for her daughter?"

May seemed a little confused. It was as if the thought had never occurred to her. "No, she wanted to give it to me." She yawned and her head bowed slightly. The Retcon was taking effect.

However, Jack still had more questions. "Did you ever wake up in unusual places before you got the necklace?"

It was too late. May was already asleep and Jack had to move fast to stop her from cracking her head on the table. "Dammit," he whispered. If he wanted to find out now, he'd have to go through the whole process again when she woke up. Still, now she was asleep, he could take the necklace and check it out. He grabbed it and went back to Owen's desk, where he and Ianto were waiting.

"Well?" Owen asked. "What do we think of her?"

"She seems normal, if a little blunt. It's the necklace I'm interested in."

"What necklace?"

"This o-" Jack looked at his hands to see they were empty. "I thought I had it…"

"Maybe you dropped it, sir?" Ianto suggested.

"No, don't think so. I would have heard it hit the ground. I must have left it in the room." He headed back to pick up the necklace, but again returned empty-handed.

"Okay, that time I'm sure I had it."

"Only you didn't," Owen remarked. "I was watching you on the cameras. You went in, stood there for a couple of seconds like an idiot, then came out again."

Jack ignored the 'idiot' comment and furrowed his brow in thought. "So what are we saying, perception filter?"

"Probably. But now you know it's there, you should be able to get past it."

Jack nodded and went in the room for the third time. He stood there, willing himself to grab the necklace. "It's no use," he shouted at Owen. "Now I can't even move."

Owen's voice crackled over the intercom. "Well, she's fit, isn't she?"

"…Yes…" Jack said cautiously, not really knowing where Owen was going with this.

"So tell yourself you're going for her tits, then grab it at the last minute."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Owen, even I think that's a stupid idea."

The delight in Owen's voice was quite apparent as he replied. "But you're gonna try it, aren't you?"

Jack sighed. "Well, it's more convenient than moving May." He rubbed his hands and grinned mischievously. "Okay, Jack, think 'boobies'." He heard Ianto give a strangled snort halfway between protest and amusement.

As he reached towards May, her hand suddenly shot up and held his arm in a vice-like grip.

"That shouldn't happen," Jack commented. "How is she awake?"

"She isn't," came Owen's reply. "All readings show she's still asleep. Dreaming even."

"So she just did this in her sleep?"

"Not quite. I'm getting a weird electromagnetic signal on the scanners. Like someone making a phone call, only it's really faint. If Tosh was here, she could tell you more."

May sat up without warning and turned to Jack. Her eyes were open but completely blank. They were even moving with the REM of dream-sleep, which Jack found particularly unsettling. Then she spoke.

"Are you harm or help?" Her voice was echoed and husky, like many people talking at once from far away. She, or they, sounded distressed.

"Depends on which one you are," Jack replied coolly, trying to prise May's fingers from his arm.

"We are no harm. We need help."

"Who are you?"

"Old. Trapped long time. Name lost to sands."

"What do you want? Why are you controlling this girl?"

"Need vessel for help. Long travel, look for one to help vessel. We buried. So dark, lost." The voices seemed very sad.

"Buried? Where?"

"Great burning sands. Cannot breathe, dying! You must help!"

"Hang on, hang on. Why are you buried?"

"Watching, helping. Were seen, evil saw us, buried us and took power." Whatever May was channelling made her stand up and take Jack's other arm. "Please, you must help us, we are dying!" Her eyes were focussed now, desperate, pleading.

Jack felt his heart wrench in sympathy. "Alright, I'll help you."

May's face was so relieved as she sank to the floor, properly asleep once again. Jack carefully put her back on the chair and walked over to Owen and Ianto, who both looked a little stunned by what had happened.

"Ok," Owen said. "Now what?"

-x-

Tada!! I hope you liked the first chapter. Please review it –puppy eyes-


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